Safe-lock



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. G. BURTON & DESTAING S. COVERT.

SAFE LOOK.

No. 522,103; Patented June 26, 1894.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. G. BURTON & DESTAING S. COVERT. SAPEVLOGK.

No.'522,103. Patented June 26, 1894.

(No fi del. 4 Sheets-Sheet s. A, G. BURTON 8B D'ESTAING S. COVERT.

' SAFE-LOOK.

No.522,103. PatentedJuneZ6,1894Q (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

' A. G. BURTON & DESTAING S. COVERT.

SAFE LOCK.

No. 522,103. Patented June 26, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS G. BURTON AND DESTAIN'G S. COVERT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' SAFE- LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,103, dated June 26, 1894. Application file October 14, 1890. Serial No. 368,056. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that we, AUGUSTUS G. BURTON and DEsTAINc S. COVERT, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safes and Vaults; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in safes or vaults, and more particularly to the locking devices of the same.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating our 1nvention:-Figure 1 is an outside face V ew of a safe door constructed in accordance with our invention, showing the parts of the walls or jambs adjacent to the door- Fig. 2 is an interior facelview of the door. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the door and adjacent parts of the safe, taken upon line 3-3 of F1gs.1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section showing the ends of the locking bolts and adjacent parts. Fig.5 is a section similar to Fig. at showing a modified construction of the parts. Fig. 6 isanother section, similar to Fig. 4, showing still another modification in the construction of the parts. Fig. 7 is an inside face view of the upper part of a safe door, showing another form of 'device embodying the main features of our invention. Fig. 8 is adetail section taken upon line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a section like Fig. 8 showing a changed position of the parts. Fig. 10 is a detail section taken upon line 10-10 of Fig. 7. Fig. 11 is a-detail section taken upon line l11l of Fig. 7.

As shown in said drawings, A A indicate the walls of a safe. A A the jambs of the doorway, and B the safe door. 0 (l G the several bolts mounted upon the inner surface of the door in the usual manner, and supported in guide bars ]3 B.

D is an actuating device of that class embracing springs for casting, and springs for retracting the bolts, and a motor for releasing the casting springs, together witha time lock E for releasing the retracting springs at the time of unlocking the safe. The said antomatic actuating device is like that described and shown in the prior Letters Patent No. 383,041, dated May 15, 1888, and in application, Serial No. 322,760, filed by A. G. Burton September 2, 1889, and need not be described in detail herein.

\ F F are hinge bars which support the door, said bars being connected in the usual manner by hingesff with the safe and by hinges f f with the safe door. Said bars F F are rigidly connected by a bar F. External pressure devices for forcing the door into place in closing the latter, in themselves of old and of familiar construction, are herein shown and are made as follows:

G G are two horizontal, parallel rock-bars, mounted in bearings g gs'ecured to the exterior face of the door. On each end of each bar is mounted an eccentric pin g adapted to enter a cam groove it formed in the casting H which is secured to the j amb of the door adjacent to the end of the bar. Said rock bars G G are further provided with arms g 9 connected by a pitman G so that both of the bars move together,'and one of the bars is provided with a hand lever or actuating handle G vIn the operation of this device after the door has been swung into place, and the eccentric pins gg have entered the open ends of the cam grooves .h h, the rock shafts are rotated so as to carry the eccentric pins g g into the cam grooves, and thereby forcibly press the door againstthc jambs.

The meeting surfaces of the door and jambs are stopped or shouldered in the usual manner, but the opposing surfaces a b instead of being made inclined or 'oblique on the door and perpendicular to the face of the door on the jamb, as heretofore common in burglar proof safes having solid doors and walls, are made inclined or oblique on both the door and the jamb, and are fitted accurately to each other, so that when the door is pressed into place the tapered surfaces on the door enter between the tapered surfaces of the jambs in the manner of a wedge, and thereby make a tight joint between the said parts.

The beveled surfaces of theedges of the plates forming the jambs and door are finished accurately with the'same degree of in:

clination or bevel, and are without paint, or other surface coating, so that when the door is forced or wedged into place, a contact of metal with metal is secured, making a close or tight joint between the door and the'safe walls.

In connection with the doorand jambs provided with tapered contact surfaces as described, we make the inner surface of the jamb, or the end surfaces of the bolts which engage the jamb, or both of said parts, inclined or beveled, so that when the bolts are forced outwardly in casting the same, the inclined or beveled surfaces of the jambs or belts, or both, in case both parts are beveled, will act in the manner of a wedge to draw and hold the beveled margins of the door forcibly in contact with the beveled surfaces of the jamb. In the drawings Figs. 3 and 4 both the jainbs and the bolts are shown as beveled, the jambs being provided with beveled surfaces ct a, while the end portions of the bolts are provided with beveled surfaces 12' 1) corresponding in inclination with the beveled surfaces of the jambs. The beveled surfaces thus arranged either act to draw inwardly the door by the outward movement of the bolts alone,or in case the dooris forced inwardly by pressure devices, such as are above described, they act to hold the door at the extreme inward point to which it is forced by the pressure devices, or in other 1 words, they serve to hold all that is gained in forcing the door into place, and prevent the door from yielding or springing outward after it is forced inward as tightly as possible.

The construction in the door and jambs and the bolts above set forth, is obviously applicable to safes in which the bolts are thrown by means of a spindle passing through the door, as well as safes in which the bolts are thrown automatically by the interior springs in locking and unlocking the safe. In the former case, the bolts may be thrown outwardly by force applied through the spindle, so as to draw the door inward with a desired pressure, or in case an external pressure device is employed to force inwardly the door, the bolts may be forced outwardly at the same time that pressure is applied to the door, so that the bolts will be thrust outward as far as possible, and the door will be positively held with its edges in forcible contact with the jambs. In the use of actuating springs for throwing the bolts, however, the said springs will by the exertion of outward pressure on the bolts in all cases tend to draw the door inwardly, and when external pressure devices are used will also serve to hold all that is gained in pressing the door inward and thus secure and hold the door with its edges in forcible contact with or wedged between the tapered surfaces of the jambs. The employment of the beveled construction on the door jambs and door, and upon the bolts and jambs is of especial advantage in connection with interior automatic bolt actuating devices, because the latter operate automatically when the door is forced inward to hold the door positively at the inward limit of its movement. Furthermore, the construction in the jambs, door and bolts above described is of especial advantage when combined with interior automatic bolt actuating devices, and external pressure devices, because the pressure devices enable the door to be easily forced or wedged into intimate contact with the beveled surfaces of the jambs, while the casting springs of the bolt actuating device operate in connection with the pressure devices, to hold the doorpositively in the position into which it is forced by said pressure devices.

In the drawings the beveled surface a is not shown as extending to the edge of the jamb, but a narrow flat surface a parallel with the front of the safe, is located between the edge of the jarnb and said inclined surface, and the straight or unbeveled part of the bolt is constructed to extend over and :bear against said [lat surface a .when the ,bolt is cast. strain on the door is prevented from coming By this construction, outward entirely upon the inclined surfaces of the ,jamlo and bolt, while at the same time, the I, said inclined surfaces are fully effective in drawing the door inwardly at thetime of clos- :ing the same.

The safe shown has a plurality of beveled surfaccs a a a and b b I) on the jamb and door, and in the drawings all of said surfaces are shown as accurately fitted to each other, but

preferably in practice two or more of the beveled surfaces at the outer part of the jamb and door will be made to come in actual and would not be sufficient to bring all of the surfaces into forcible contact.

In Fig. 5 is shown a construction in which an anti-friction roller II is inserted in the outer end of the bolt, which roller is adapted to bear upon the inclined surface a of the jamb, so as to draw the door inward as the bolt is forced outward, in the same manner as before set forth. A roller thus arranged serves to lessen the frictional resistance to the'movement of the parts when the bolts are thrown, and thus enables the door to be drawn more tightly into place with the application of less power to the bolts for throwing them outwardly. In this instance, as in the construction shown in Fig. 4, the door jamb is provided with a flat surface a adjacent to the margin of the jamb, against which surface rests a straight orunbeveled surface of the when the latter is cast.

bolt when the latter is cast, so that outward strain on the door will come on said fiat surface, and will be taken partially by the bolt, instead of comingentirely upon the roller.

In Fig. 6 is shown a construction in which an anti-friction roller is used, but which differs somewhat from that shown in Fig.5. In this instance the bolt only is beveled as seen at 1;, and an anti-friction rollerl is mounted upon the jamb in position to engage the bolt The said roller is shown as mounted upon a bearing pin 1', and as partially inserted in a recess in the inner surface of the jamb, but these details may be varied in practice as found convenient and desirable. Fig. 6 also illustrates an anti-friction roller J, applied upon the door, and acting against the inner surface of the bolt to take the back-pressure, when the end of the bolt is acting upon the jamb. An anti-friction roller thus arranged may obviously be used with advantage in any of the forms of the invention shown, inasmuch as the wedging action of the bolt on the jamb necessarily produces an increase of pressure of the bolt against its bearing, and a consequent increase of frictional resistance to the movement of thebolt.

Instead of using an anti friction roller which is mounted in bearings on the bolt or jamb, in connection with an inclined surface on one of said parts, an anti-friction roller may be used which is free to move bodily between the opposing surfaces of the jamb and the door, and inasmuch as in the use of such roller, rolling friction alone is produced, this construction is in some respects superior to those above described. One practical construction in such anti-friction device is shown in Figs. 7 to 11. In said figures, the inner surfaces of the jambs of the safe are shown as made flat or parallel with the outer face of the safe, and the ends of the bolts as beveled, but as far as the other features of construction illustrated are concerned, this feature is immaterial, and the bolts may be made straight and the jambs beveled, or both the bolts and jambs may be beveled. K K in said figures indicate long metal cylinders or rollers, which are arranged against the innor faces of the jambs of the safe parallel with the said jambs. The bolts in this construction are located at such distance from the inner surfaces of the jatnbs that the rollers K K may rest between the beveled surfaces of the bolts and the jambs' when the bolts are cast. Each roller K is provided at each end with gear-teeth 7c, and with a bear-, ing pin extending outwardly beyond the same. Upon the inner face of the jamb, at each end of the roller, is secured a toothed bar or rack L, adapted to engage the gearteeth is on the roller. The gear-teeth and racks at opposite ends of the rollers serve to maintain the rollers parallel with the edges of the jambs, as the rollers roll on said jambs.

. Secured to the inner face of the jambs, at

each end of each roller, is a guide M provided with a guide groove m arranged at right angles to the roller, and within which is located a sliding block m provided with a bearing aperture to receive the pin 7.5 on the end of the roller. The said guide M and blocks m serve to hold the rollers K in place upon the jambs, and in engagement with the racks L L. Spiral springs N N placed in the guidegrooves m m, between the blocks m m and suitable abutting surfaces at the outer ends of the guides M M serve to throw the rollers toward the door, and to retain said rollers in position near the edges of the jambs, as clearly shown in Fig. 9. Said springs at the same time allow the rollers to yield or roll backwardly upon the inner surfaces of the jambs. In a construction of this kind, when the door is closed and the bolts thrown for: ward, the beveled surfaces of the bolts engage the rollers K K, the said beveled surfaces coming in contact with the rollers at points near the ends of the bolts, and the rollers are thus caught or pinched between the beveled surfaces, of the bolts and the jambs, so that as the bolts are advanced, the rollers will roll backwardly along the surface of the jambs, and along the beveled surfaces of the bolts, until the bolts are fully thrown, the springs N N yielding to allow such movement of the rollers. When the bolts are retracted, the rollers will be similarly moved until the bolts are free therefrom, after which the springs will hold the rollers in their advance position. End-walls m m on the guides M M limit the outward movement of the" blocks m m and the rollers under the action of the springs.

In a construction of the kind last described, the bolts act with great power to draw inwardly the door, because the anti-friction rollers act practically without friction, and the wedge action of the inclined surfaces of the bolts is exerted with full effect.

Preferably the striking surfaces at a between the beveled meeting surfaces of the door and jambs will not be constructed to come together when the door is closed, but narrow spaces will be left in which will be inserted packing strips d of elastic material, such as rubber which will not only aid in making joints, and fill the said spaces so as to prevent possibility of the introduction of liquid'explosives into the joint, but will yield and allow the beveled surfaces a a b b to come into contact with each other when the door is forced into place.

The construction embracing beveled meeting surfaces on the door jambs, together with the beveled surfaces on the jambs or bolts, or both, has important advantages obviously when used in connection with bolt mechanism in which the bolts are actuated byaspindle extending through'the .door as well as whenused with an automatic bolt actuating device such as is herein shown, but the most advantageous results are obtained in connection with such automatic bolt actuating de ICC vice because when the latter is used, no aperture in the door is required for the passage of a spindle, so that by making tight the joint between the door and the jambs in the manner herein proposed and above described, the introduction of nitro-glycerine or other liquid explosive is rendered impossible.

It may be here remarked that in any safe as heretofore commonlymade, a liquid of the consistence of nitro-glycerine may be forced inwardly around the spindle or at the joint be tween the door and jambs in quantities sufficient for the destruction of the door, in a few minutes only. Furthermore, it has been found impossible to make a joint between a moving part, such as a revolvin gspindle and its bearing so tight as to prevent the introduction of liquids, so that no door having a revolving spindle extending through it can be made secure against the introduction of explosives. By using an interior automatic bolt actuating device, therefore, and constructing the door in such manner that it may be forcibly closed against accurately fitted jambs to form liquid proof joints, a door is made which is in the highest degree safe from attack by the use of liquid explosives.

We claim as our invention 1. The combination, with the jamb of a burglar proof safe or vault doorway and a door fitting therein, of bolts on the door engaging the jamb, one or both of the engaging surfaces being so inclined as to cause the bolts to act as wedges to draw the door inward as the bolts are cast, and both of the engaging parts being provided with contact surfaces located in a plane parallel with the face of the door when the bolts are fully cast, in such manner as to prevent outward strain coming on the beveled surface, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the jambs of a safe or vault doorway, and a door fitting therein, said jambs and the door being provided with interfitting beveled surfaces, of bolts on the door engaging the jambs, said jambs and the bolts being provided with engaging surfaces which on one of said parts is beveled or inclined, bodily movable anti-friction rollers located between said parts, and springs applied to throw the rollers toward the door, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the jambs of a safe or vault doorway, and a door fitting therein, said jambs and the door being provided with interfitting beveled surfaces, of

bolts on the door engaging the jambs, said one of said parts is beveled or inclined, bodily movable anti-friction rollers located between said parts, springs applied to throw said rollers toward the door, and gearteeth on the rollers and racks on the jambs for maintaining said rollers parallel with the jambs, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTUS G. BURTON. DESTAING S. COVERT.

\Vitnesses:

O. CLARENCE POOLE, GEORGE W. HIGGINS, J r. 

